Guardians’ Bibee tops players for Thursday, April 4; Mets’ Garrett tops NL players

Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Bibee struck out nine over 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 4-2 win over the Twins.

Bibee earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 2.0 for the season, fourth among all players.

Bibee is one 13 players with 2.0 Box-Toppers points this season, behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Evan Phillips with 3.0 points. Bibee ranks third among the players with 2.0 points with the third-most 2023 Box-Toppers points among them (8.7), behind Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes (11.7) and Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (9.7).

National League Player of the Day

Mets pitcher Reed Garrett struck out four over three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Tigers. Garrett pitched the final three innings and earned the win.

Garrett earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and ranks 21st among all players.

This was Garrett’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Garrett made his Major League debut March 29, 2019, and was playing in his 32nd career game.

American League Batter of the Day is Nelson Velazquez of the Royals.

American League Batter of the Day

Nelson Velazquez of the Royals homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-1 win over the White Sox.

National League Batter of the Day

There is no NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors in the six games played.

Cardinals closing pitcher Ryan Helsley earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second time this season.

Notable

Cardinals closing pitcher Ryan Helsley earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second time this season.

Helsley (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K Sv in the 8-5 win over the Marlins) also did it April 2. Helsley earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season, ranking 10th among all players.

Tigers pitcher Shelby Miller earns his first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor in nearly seven years Thursday.

Also notable

Tigers pitcher Shelby Miller earns his first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor in nearly seven years Thursday.

Miller (2IP 0H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 6-3, 11-inning win over the Mets) last earned Player of the Game honors April 18, 2017, with the Diamondbacks. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point that season.

Miller underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2017, missing the remainder of that season. Since then, he has battled injury, opted out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and did not earn Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Dodgers, despite playing in a career-high 36 games that season.

Miller earned 39.1 career points from 2012 to 2017 (he has 40.1 now), earning as many as 15.4 points in 2013 with the Cardinals, his best season, when he ranked ninth among NL pitchers.

Scoring

  • Bibee earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.

  • Garrett earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.

  • Velazquez earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day.

  • All of Thursday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

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Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winners

Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box‑Toppers game score (BTG).

4/4 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +7.1 CLE 4, MIN 2 Tanner Bibee (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.1 5 1 1 0 9
NL +4.0 NYM 2, DET 1 Reed Garrett (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 3.0 2 0 0 1 4
+4.0 DET 6, NYM 3 (F/11) Shelby Miller (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 2.0 0 0 0 2 4
BAT +3.0 KC 10, CHW 1 Nelson Velázquez DH 3 2 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 PIT 7, WSH 4 David Bednar (S, 1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+2.0 STL 8, MIA 5 Ryan Helsley (S, 2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
MLB—Overall Box‑Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box‑Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box‑Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box‑Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box‑Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box‑Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
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Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2024 (’24). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’23-24), the period 2019-2024 (’19-24) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2024 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2023 total (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’24 ’23‑24 ’19‑24 Career +/‑
Bibee, Tanner 4792 pi sp cle al 2.0 10.7 10.7 10.7 -6.7
Helsley, Ryan 4589 pi cp stl nl 2.0 6.0 12.0 12.0 -2.0
Garrett, Reed 4963 pi cp nym nl 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 +1.7
Velazquez, Nelson 4694 dh rf kc al 1.5 4.0 5.5 5.5 -1.0
Bednar, David 4499 pi cp pit nl 1.0 8.0 16.0 16.0 -6.0
Miller, Shelby 3134 pi cp sp det al 1.0 1.0 1.0 40.1 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Friday’s pitching matchups

A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2024 (’24), this year and last year (’23-24), over a six-year period (’19-24) and their career point total.
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Game Starter ’24 ’23-24 ’19‑24 Career
TOR Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 0.0 10.0 27.4 27.4
NYY Stroman, Marcus 3327 1.0 8.7 32.4 63.2
OAK Sears, JP 4627 0.0 4.0 9.0 9.0
DET Skubal, Tarik 4414 1.0 11.7 31.1 31.1
LAD Miller, Bobby 4820 2.0 10.7 10.7 10.7
CHC Hendricks, Kyle 3386 0.0 5.0 33.1 73.6
TB Littell, Zack 4533 1.0 3.0 7.0 7.0
COL Gomber, Austin 3985 0.0 1.0 14.0 18.7
BAL Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 2.0 10.0 10.0 10.0
PIT Jones, Jared 4956 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
SD Cease, Dylan 4231 0.0 10.0 46.8 46.8
SF Hicks, Jordan 3991 1.7 4.7 8.7 10.7
NYM Quintana, Jose 3040 0.0 0.0 22.8 83.1
CIN Greene, Hunter 4651 0.0 5.7 11.7 11.7
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 0.0 12.0 56.1 101.7
WSH Corbin, Patrick 3027 0.0 7.1 34.2 92.4
ARI Henry, Tommy 4829 0.0 3.7 3.7 3.7
ATL Strider, Spencer 4626 1.0 22.1 35.5 35.5
CHW Fedde, Erick 4065 0.0 0.0 16.8 18.5
KC Singer, Brady 4337 2.0 7.0 25.7 25.7
HOU Brown, Hunter 4729 0.0 10.1 11.1 11.1
TEX Bradford, Cody 4938 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
SEA Gilbert, Logan 4439 1.0 14.4 35.5 35.5
MIL Peralta, Freddy 3965 1.0 18.7 48.8 57.5
BOS Crawford, Kutter 4660 0.0 5.7 9.7 9.7
LAA Canning, Griffin 4134 0.0 6.0 17.7 17.7
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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